Combination cooking device



April 10, 1934. A. N. BECKER El AL COMBINATION COOKING DEVICE FiledSept. 20, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 10, 1934. N B KER H M 1,954,235

COMBINATION COOKING DEVICE Filed Sept. 20, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 556 44F 4/ 49 Patented Apr. 10, 1934 UNITED STATES 1,954,235 communion coomcnsvrcs Alfonse N. Becker, Milwaukee, and John I. Martin, Kenosha, Wis.

Application September 20, 1930, Serial No. 483,162

3 Claims. (Cl. 213-19) This invenion relates to improvements incombination cooking devices.

In recent years, electric waffle irons, grills, and the like have comeinto common use in the home 5 and restaurant. These devices, however, inalmost all cases, have each been limited to a single use, and in orderto cook waflies and pancakes, or waiiies and eggs at the same time, ithas been necessary to have a separate waiiie iron and a sepa- 10 rateelectric plate suitable for cooking the other food' items. This wastroublesome and dual equipment increased expense.

It is therefore one of the objects of this in- I vention to provide animproved combination is cooking device which is adapted for cookingwafiies and any other food item such as eggs, bacon and the like at thesame time, and which may also be readily converted from a wailieironinto a cooking device having two cooking surfaces 20 .which may beused when a larger number of pancakes, eggs, bacon and the like aredesired.

A further object of this invention is to provide a combination cookingdevice in which theheating unit of each plate is substantially equallyas spaced from the upper and lower surfac'es thereof to render both ofsaid surfaces equally eifective for cooking purposes at the same time.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cooking device of thewaiiie iron type in' so which the upper plate is mounted for pivotalmovement in a horizontal plane and in which the lower plate is somounted as to permit reversal of its sides.

A further object of this invention is to provide 35 an electricalcooking device having a novel arrangement of electrical contacts whichpermit the above-mentioned movement of. the upper and lower plates todiiferent-cooking positions with-v out interfering with the iiow ofcurrent to the 4 heating coils within said Plates.

A further object of this invention is to provide a combination cookingdevice which is relatively simple in construction, strong and durable,attractive in a, eflicient inoperation,

andwell adaptedforthedescribed.

, With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists ofthe improved combination cooking device and its parts and combinationsas set forth in the claims, and all equivalents there- In theaccompanying drawings illustrating one complete t of the preferredform'of the invention,'in which the some referencenussmeralsdesignaiethessmepa'rtsinallofthe views 1ig.1isasideelevationofthedevice,thedottedlinesindicatingvariouspositionsofmow mentoftheupperandlowerplates;

l lg.2isaplanviewthereof,thedottedlines 'and 21.

inditgating an alternate position of the upper 1 Fig. 3 is an enlargeddetail view of the rear portion of the device showing the electricalcon-- tacts, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of F 8. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged bottom view of the upper contact disc inconnection with the swivel joint of the upper plate; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the lower contact disc.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 10 des-' lgnates a tray or supporthaving legs 11, the front leg being of substantial width and beingpreferably weighted to hold said front in position. The tray 10 has itsupper surface formed with an annular flange 12 which forms a rest forthe lower plate. A bracket 13 has one side secured to the rear of theflange 12 as at 14 and has its other side secured to a lower box-likehousing 15 for the electrical contacts of the lower plate.

Supported on the inner side of the lower-wall of the housing 15 isasection of fibrous or insulating material 16 having a concave uppersurface 17. A similar section of insulating material 18 having a concavelower surface 19 depends from the upper wall of the housing 15. Flatinsulating pieces 20 and 21.are fitted adjacent opposite sides of thehousing. Contact members 22 and 23 are secured by bolts 24 and 25respectively to the sides of said insulating sections 20 Said contactmembers are also formed with concave side portions 26 and 27.

A ball 28 is rotatably mounted between the concave surfaces 17, 19, 26and 27 and is provided on opposite sides with metallic contact sections29 and 30 which are adapted to frictionally engage the contacts 22 and23.

Wires 31 within the ball 28 have their ends secured to the contactportions 29 and 30 and extend through a central aperture 32 of the ball,through a tubular extension 33 of the latter, and into the interior of alower cooking plate 34.

The plate 34, which is formed of cast iron, aluminum, or any othersuitable material, is rigidlysecuredtotheendofthetubularextension 33 ofthe ball. Said plate is provided with a heating unit preferably in theform of a coil 35 110 which is positioned substantially midway be-'tweenthetwosm'facesoftheplate. Onesurfaceoftheplateisformedwithwaillemoldsutherein and theother surface is offlat form with nangedsides3'1. Thefrontandaportionofthetopofthehousingl5isslottedasat38topermitmovementofthetubularextensionnandresultingtofthelowerplateforapurpos'etobehereinafterdescribed.

Atubularpostflestendswwardlyfrom-the top of the housing 15 and said postis formed with an enlarged upper portion or disc 40. An upper housing orplate supporting member 41 has a lower bore 42 through which the post 39extends and has an interior chamber within which the disc 40 isreceived, the housing 41 being thereby pivotal on, the post 39. Theupper surface of the disc 40 carries an insulating disc 43 (see Fig. 6)and said disc has a central contact portion 44 and an outer contact ring45. Rigidly secured to the upper wall of the chamber within the housing41 is an upper disc 46 also of insulating material. Said disc hasdepending therefrom contacts 47 and 48 which are adapted to frictionallyengage the contacts 44 and 45 respectively of the lower disc 43. Wires49 have one end secured to the contacts 47 and 48 and have their otherends secured to a heating unit 50 within an upper cooking plate 51.

The cooking plate 51 is constructed similarly to the lower cooking plate34 and is provided with wafile molds 52 on one side and with a dishedcooking surface 53 on its other side, the heating unit 50 beingpositioned within the interior of the plate substantially equi-distantfrom the two cooking surfaces thereof. The rear portion of the upperplate 51 has a depending lug 54 having a bore 55 through which a bolt 56loosely extends. Said bolt extends across a bifurcated portion 57 of thefront of the housing 41. The upper plate 51 is thus mounted so that itcan be swung up and down and so that it may be pivoted in a horizontalplane through rotation of the housing 41 on the post 39.

A socket 58 depends from the lower wall of the housing 15 and saidsocket is adapted to receive the usual electric plug, the latterengaging contact members 59 within the socket. Wires 60 have their lowerends secured in contact with contact members 59 as at 6l and with thebolts 24 and 25 of the contacts 22 and 23 as at 62. Said wires extendthrough the chamber within the lower contact housing, through theinterior of the post 39, and have their upper ends secured to thecontacts 44 and 45 of the disc 43.

When a plug is inserted in the socket 58 current will pass through themembers 59, through the bolts 24 and 25, to the contacts 22 and 23. Fromthe latter the current will pass to the contacts 29 and 30 on the ball,through the wires 31, to the heating coil 35 of the lower cooking plate.The current will at the same time pass through the wires 60 to thecontacts 44 and 45 on the disc 43. Inasmuch as said contacts are engagedby the contacts 47 and 48 of the upper disc 46, the current will pass tothe wires 49 and to the heating coil 50 of the upper cooking plate.

When the device is in the position shown by full lines in Figs. 1 and 3,a waflle may be cooked between the plates and pancakes, eggs, bacon orthe like may be simultaneously cooked on the surface 53 of the upperplate. To remove the waffle the upper plate is swung on the bolt 56 toposition A of Fig. 1. If it is not desired to cook waflles and if twofiat cooking surfaces are necessary, the upper plate ispivotedhorizontally through movement of the housing 41 on the post 39 toposition B of Fig. 1, and the lower plate is reversed in positionthrough rotation of the ball 28 within the concave surfaces, saidreversal of position being indicated by position C of Fig. 1.

Inasmuch as the contacts 47 and 48 of the disc 46 are always inengagement with the contacts 44 and 45 of the disc 43, there will be aflow of current to the heating coil of the upper plate in all positionsof adjustment. When the lower plate is swung to a midway position as atC in Fig. 1, the contacts 29 and 30 will be out of engagement with thecontacts 22 and 23,

but as soon as said plate assumes a horizontal position with either sideup, there will be a flow of current to the heating unit therein.

Although only one form of the invention has been shown and described, itis not desired to be limited to this exact showing as the broad conceptof the invention includes all changes and modifications as may comewithin the scope of the claims.

What we claim is:

1. A cooking device comprising a supporting portion, a lower platecarrying a heating unit and having upper and lower unlike cookingsurfaces, a swivel connection between said lower plate and thesupporting portion to provide for independent reversal of saidplate toexpose either cooking surface thereof, an upper plate also carrying aheating unit and having upper and lower unlike cooking surfaces, and aconnection between said upper plate and the supporting portion toprovide for raising and lowering of the plate and for pivotal movementthereof in a horizontal plane independently of the lower plate.

2. An electrical cooking device comprising a supporting portion, a lowerplate carrying an electrical heating unit and having upper and lowerunlike cooking surfaces, a swivel connection between the lower plate andthe supporting portion to provide for independent reversal of said plateto expose either cooking surface thereof, an upper plate also carrying aheating unit and having upper and lower unlike cooking surfaces, aconnection between said upper plate and the supporting portion toprovide for raising and lowering of the plate and for pivotal movementthereof in a horizontal plane independently of the lower plate, andmeans for transmitting electrical current from an outside source to theheating units of the two plates without interfering with the movementthereof.

3. An electrical cooking device comprising a supporting portion, a lowerplate carrying an electrical heating unit and having upper and lowerunlike cooking surfaces, a swivel connection between the lower plate andthe supporting portion to provide for independent reversal of said plateto expose either cooking surface thereof, anupper plate also carrying aheating unit and having upper and lower unlike cooking surfaces, aconnection between said upper plate and the supporting portion toprovide for raising and lowering of the plate and for pivotal movementthereof in a horizontal plane independently of the lower plate, andmeans including wiper contacts in the swivel and universal connectionsfor transmitting electrical current from an outside source to theheating units of the two plates without interfering with the movementthereof.

ALFONSE N. BECKER. JOHN F. MARTIN.

